Powerful unions have insisted they will secure air conditioning for the delivery drivers they represent in 2023, but in reality they have hardly secured it.

International Federation of Truck Drivers Negotiated The company signed a contract with United Parcel Service (UPS) in June 2023 requiring delivery vehicles it purchases to be equipped with air conditioning starting in 2024. Now, more than a year later, only a few hundred of UPS's roughly 94,000 vans are still operating with air conditioning, UPS spokesperson Jenny Bowman confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“With air conditioning coming to UPS, the Teamster members who ride in these vehicles will get the relief and protections they have been asking for,” Teamsters President Sean M. O'Brien said after the contract negotiations. (Related: New report reveals powerful labor union that suddenly courted Republicans spent millions on liberal advocacy.)

UPS drivers report temperatures in non-air-conditioned vehicles reaching as high as 121 degrees, Business Insider reportA heatwave swept across the nation in June, with more than 270 million Americans experiencing temperatures above 90 degrees. according to To CNN.

While air conditioning has been slow to arrive, UPS is taking steps to retrofit older vehicles with fans and heat shields, Bowman told DCNF. UPS is also investing in safety training, researching ways to improve working conditions, and providing water to workers in case of high temperatures, he said.

But the Teamsters are not satisfied with UPS's progress so far and say the company needs to speed up the introduction of air-conditioned vehicles.

“We're halfway through summer and frankly UPS is not doing enough,” Teamsters spokesperson Kara Dennis told DCNF.

“We understand that UPS has installed all contractually required second fans and is ahead of schedule in installing heat shields and air intake scoops for package compartment ventilation,” Dennis continued, “but that's not enough. The UPS Teamsters Heat Action Committee is meeting regularly to determine the union's next course of action if the company continues to delay action.”

Dennis also suggested the Teamsters were not taking UPS's claims at face value and were “in the process of verifying” whether vehicles purchased by the shipping giant actually had air conditioning.

Some union members were skeptical of the Teamsters agreement at the time of the negotiations, and workers were fighting back. Publishing “There is no clear language that would force UPS to actually install air conditioning in its vans, which regularly reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit, except for new vehicles that won't be purchased until 2024,” the group said in a now-deleted blog post from August 2023. The group also criticized the Teamsters for securing only modest wage increases, arguing that this weakens workers' position in future negotiations.

Approximately 330,000 UPS employees Represented By the Teamsters Alongside Millions of workers in other industries, such as construction and aviation.

The Teamsters donated $45,000 to the Republican National Committee in January, their first donation to the Republican Party since 2004, aimed at giving the union a “seat at the table” within the GOP. O'Brien is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention in July, CNN reported. report.

But O'Brien's union has a history of left-wing activism, donating roughly $9 million between 2019 and 2022 to center-left causes.

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